He had thrown floaters playing catch down the right-field line while getting loose before games.

He had worked on the pitch in the bullpen.

He had orders from Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter to use it in a game for, at the time, he had a 6.09 ERA.

And it was time to begin his new life with a pitch that would either extend his career or take him into retirement.

R.A. Dickey took the mound for the first time as a full-time knuckleballer on Sunday, July 24, 2005 for the triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks against the Iowa Cubs.

“The first one was rough,” said Lee Tunnell, Dickey’s pitching coach that day, from Oklahoma City on Tuesday. “He was behind in the count a lot.”

Playing catch in the outfield is one thing — it’s why legend has it Mickey Mantle, not Hall of Famers Hoyt Wilhelm or Phil Niekro, had the best knuckleball ever.

Out on the mound at the SBC Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Dickey allowed 12 runs on 14 hits and five walks in 5.2 painful innings before manager Bobby Jones came to the mound.

Instead of saying: “Your outfielders are tired,” or “Candlesticks are nice,” or “There’s a midnight bus, be on it,” Jones told Dickey: “See you in five days.”

“That’s so Bobby Jones, such a positive guy,” said Tunnell.

Dickey told The Oklahoman after his start: “I’m a competitive guy. To go out and give up 12 runs is tough to swallow. Hopefully, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m going to stay with it and see what happens.”

Rangers pitching coach Orel Hershiser and Showalter suggested Dickey throw only knuckleballs and sent Texas executive Dom Chiti to Oklahoma City to deliver the news.

“We sat in Jones’ office and Dom told R.A. his future: The knuckleball,” said Tunnell. “Later, R.A. asked what Bobby and I thought.

“I told him: ‘If you do it, you’ll have success, it’s your makeup. Do what they ask, have success and they have to give you an opportunity in the big leagues next year. Put the ball in their court.’

“It was a no-lose situation.”

Dickey went 7-1 his final eight starts with a 4.41 ERA and was on his way. He was promoted to the Rangers and beat the Seattle Mariners in September.

Mission accomplished, right?

Well, the Rangers didn’t like his hard knuckleball, in the 80-plus mph range, and wanted him to throw a soft one, the way Tim Wakefield’s used to tumble plateward at 66 mph.

Dickey made the Rangers’ 2006 opening day roster yet, in his first start, allowed six homers against the Detroit Tigers and was sent back to triple-A.

“When he beat Seattle, he threw everything hard. Then they wanted him throwing soft,” said Tunnell, now a coach with the Milwaukee Brewers. “R.A. has an aggressive personality, it was difficult for him to back off.”

Dickey called Tunnell, who had joined the Cincinnati Reds as a coach.

“They hadn’t talked to him in a couple of weeks, dropped him like a hot potato,” Tunnell said. “By now his fastball was about 80 mph.”

His former pitching coach told him to get back to throwing long toss, build up his arm speed and throw his hard knuckler again.

“To the Rangers’ credit, they suggested he throw the knuckleball. ,” said Tunnell. “The idea was right. Throwing the soft one was wrong.”

Like going down one road not finding your way and turning down another.

Dickey found the right road.

On the verge on quitting, Dickey pitched at triple-A Nashville, winning the Pacific Coast League ERA title in 2007, signed with the Minnesota Twins, was claimed by the Mariners in the Rule 5 draft, returned to the Twins, was traded to the Mariners in 2008, signed again with the Twins in 2009 and finally signed with the New York Mets, where he had three solid years.

“It’s been a great story ever since. We’re so happy for him,” said Tunnell. “He’s such a quality guy.”

Tunnell said Dickey’s knuckleball goes way back.

“The very first time I ever saw R.A. throw in a bullpen in 1998, he was throwing one,” Tunnell said, “but he called it a split.”

Tunnell asked why and Dickey told him the Rangers didn’t want him to throw the knuckler. So Dickey renamed the pitch.

“Call it what it was, keep throwing it,” said Tunnell, Dickey’s pitching coach or Rangers minor league co-ordinator until 2003. “He’d throw it occasionally over the years.”

Dickey talked with Niekro and Charlie Hough about refining his pitch. And then he went out and did what neither had accomplished: Winning a Cy Young Award. The hard way.

FREIRE FIRST OF MANY TO BE FANNED

The first major-league hitter R.A. Dickey struck out as a knuckleballer was Alejandro Freire.

The Baltimore Orioles first baseman, who fanned 17 times in his 25-game career, watched the 2-2 pitch dance, dip and dive for a called strike three on Sept. 13, 2005 in Arlington, Tex.

Then, the Texas Rangers right-hander struck out the next Orioles hitter, left-fielder Eric Byrnes, looking at a 3-2 pitch.

Dickey fanned five, allowing three runs in seven innings against the Orioles in his first start as a card-carrying member of endangered species known as the knuckleballers union.

Since then, Dickey has fanned 580 hitters, walking 249, in 818.2 innings. He’s been 46-39 with a 3.54 ERA, including 39-28, with a 2.95 ERA his last three seasons.

His final start as a Met was Oct. 2 against Miami Marlins as Jose Reyes had three hits and Dickey had a no-decision in a 4-3, 11-inning Marlins win.

Dickey’s next start should come April 2 against the Cleveland Indians in the Blue Jays home opener at the Rogers Centre.